


The Prince Charming Murders

by nyny_68



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Crimes & Criminals, Detectives, M/M, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-09 11:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3247406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyny_68/pseuds/nyny_68
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The beautiful, idyllic little town of Isan, where brothers, Sehun and Lu  Han, live their beautiful, idyllic lives , is a typical suburban village -  the sun always shines its brightest, and everyone’s best friends with each other...But under the pool parties and barbecues, this idyllic slice of heaven might just have a hellishly dark core – and when a series of murders rip apart the town’s teenage population, secrets every one claimed not to know  suddenly float to the surface…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

‘Sehuun!!! You’re gonna be late!!!’

‘I’m _here_ already, Mom!!’ Sehun slid into the dining room, scooting perfectly over the freshly polished floor, and adding a 360 spin at the end for flourish ‘What’s for breakfast??’

‘For you??  Turdface stew…oh wait, that would be cannibalism’ Luhan snorted into his bowl of cereal,  sending drops of milk spraying over the table just as Sehun was reaching for the box of Fruit Loops

‘EEeewwww!!!!’ he pulled away in disgust, shaking his sleeve vigorously for a whole minute, before chucking a spoon at his elder brother. ‘And Shuttup!!! You’re soo not funny!!’

Suddenly, there was silence, punctuated only by the clank as the spoon fell harmlessly to the floor, Lu Han’s eyes riveted to its descent.  ‘…you did _not_ just try and throw that at _me_ , did you, little brother of mine’ he levelled a dangerous glare at Sehun, making him gulp the spoonful of dry cereal he was shovelling into his mouth _way_ too quickly, resulting in some alarmingly reverberating hacking chokes,  as he wheezed out through to the adjoining living room ‘Moo-oommm!! Hyung’s –‘

‘Okay!! That’s _enough_ you two!! I’m leaving in 3 minutes, and anyone not in the car can just stay home!!’ Mrs Oh stomped in  – well, _stomped_ as well she could in her 3 inch heels and pencil skirt, earphones dangling to the tablet she was waving threateningly at her beloved, yet sometimes absolutely idiotic, sons.

‘……Really?’ Sehun turned gleaming round, soulful puppy eyes at her. ‘Stay home?’

‘Tchah!’ Miffed, she lightly tapped him over the head with the tab. ‘Suure. Provided you do the dishes, change all the bedding, run the three loads of laundry _someone_ left piled up in the utility room, vacuum the floor, hang out the curtains, mow the lawn – ‘

‘Enough, enough!’ Sehun theatrically clutched his chest, pretending her words were kryptonite to his superman, as he slithered off his chair n dropped to the floor. ‘I think I’ll take my chances with school, thanks’ he grinned cheekily as he emerged from under the table.

‘Pick up the spoon, dumb head’

‘Luhan! Language!’

‘Sorry…’ Placating, Luhan reached behind to the counter, to grab their mom her cup of herbal tea

‘Thank you…Sehun, pick up the spoon…’ Above her elder one’s chuckles of triumph, and the younger one’s protests, Mrs Oh sank into a vacant chair at the middle of the table, sipping her tea as she scrolled through her news feed.  

 ‘Oh!’

‘What’s up?’ Sehun looked up from his cereal-Hoovering at her gasp.

‘There’s been another one…’

‘Whoa! Lemme see!!’ Luhan chucked his empty bowl into the sink, and shoved the strap of his backpack over his shoulder in one smooth movement, before coming ‘round to lean over his mom

‘The body of an unidentified male victim was discovered in the early hours of the morning, abandoned in the woods off Jangmi Park…. reported to be a high school student….the body was - ’

Sighing, Mrs Oh snapped the cover of her tab closed, reaching over to pat Lu Han’s cheek, and lay a kiss above his ear. ‘We’re gonna be late, c’mon… Sehun, are you done?’

‘Umm! Just about!’ Quickly, he scooped up the last straggling loops, before tossing his bowl into the sink, and running back upstairs to grab his backpack – making it out into the driveway just as the others were getting into Mom’s four wheel drive

‘Heeyy!!! It’s my turn to ride up front!!’

‘ _It’s my turn to ride up front_ ’ Luhan imitated him in a sing song voice, grimacing widely and rolling his eyes ‘Too bad, princess, the early bird and all that, maybe next time, you should get to bed earlier, ‘stead of staying up all night, playing with your little – ‘

‘Moomm!!!’

‘Sehun, just get in!’

Grumbling, Sehun yanked open the door and piled himself in, just as Mom pulled out, digging his feet into the back of his brother’s seat in retribution – though it didn’t work - Luhan just laughed and reached over to turn up the radio, his indifferent façade infuriatingly crack-less. Soon, however, the familiar tunes of SNSD’s latest hit were blaring through the car – and immediately, a temporary truce was called, as everyone – even Mom, who was ‘secretly’ a huge Tiffany fan – sang along, Sehun and Lu Han dancing in their seats.

 

 

By the time they’d gone through three more SNSD tunes, and a Super Junior classic, school was just a couple of blocks away – this was where Mom usually dropped them off, her turn-off being in the opposite direction – but today, she kept going, snapping off the radio as she slowed down in the crush of backpack totting kids, family sedans and bicycles with all sorts of sporting equipment belted to their carriers

‘Ok..guys..I know you’re not as stupid as you look – ‘

‘Mooommm!!’ laughing, the two boys protested, making Mrs Oh giggle too, and reach to pat Luhan. ‘Yeah, yeah, alright – but seriously…I want you two to be super careful, okay? Don’t talk – ‘

‘Don’t talk to strangers, don’t take rides from anyone, don’t accept candy  - yeah, yeah, we _know,_ Mom!!’

‘Alright, smarty pants!’ She reached behind to tug Sehun’s ear as he recited in his long-suffering tones. ‘I just want you to be safe alright?’

‘Yeah, mommy, we’ll be fine’ Smiling, Sehun rubbed his face lovingly against her neck ‘You worry too much!’

‘Hey!! I’m a mom, that’s kinda my job description…besides, with all this awful _awful_ news..’ She shuddered,  then waved a hand as she spotted Mrs Park in a nearby car, mouthing ‘Good Morning’ at her

‘Well..well.. anyway, for the next few days, I want you guys home straight after school, k’

‘What??!!’

‘Moomm!!’

‘I can’t, I have club!!’

‘Yeah!! And I have…plans…’

Luhan snorted ‘Another date, he means’

‘Shuddup!! That’s none of your business!!’ Sehun snapped, then went back to wheedling his mom ‘PLleeeasee mom, I’ll be super careful, I’ll be home by….8 o clock, okay?!! Well…9, max!!’

‘No. No discussion, this is non-negotiable!’ Mrs Oh parked smoothly at the curb right outside the gate, and turned to face both the boys, her face stern and devoid of any laughter. ‘You will both be home right after school lets out, am I clear?’

‘….yeah..’

‘Yes, mom..’ Grudgingly, the boys conceded defeat, pulling on their backpacks, before making to get out – but not before Mom had grinningly kissed both of them goodbye, despite their panicked cries of ‘gerrof Mom!!’ and horrified assertions that she was embarrassing them in front of the _whole entire_ school

‘Ok, ok, have a good day, you two!!’ She yelled out as they walked off, waving to her. ‘And stay safe!!’

 

‘You’re screwed, by the way’ Luhan side mouthed to him, as they both headed towards the giant granite building

‘What for?’

‘Coz you’re soo stinking late, snail boy’

‘Shut your pie, dog breath, if I’m late, so are you, so’s everyone’ Sehun flicked his hair, and gestured extravagantly to the crowds surrounding them

‘Maybe, but _we_ don’t have ol’ Dyodoro for homeroom’

‘…’ Gasping, a chunk of ice settling in his stomach as he remembered yesterday’s ‘this is your very last warning, Mr. Oh’, and without even waiting to think up a good come back, Sehun shot off, ducking and weaving through the clusters of chatting kids, the geeks over by the fountain, the sports club dudes bouncing basketballs off the grill near the Science block, and the security guard running over to yell at them.. girls with sparkling long black hair, and bright pink nails giving their make up last minute checks in their reflections on each other’s phones, more’n one of whom called out ‘Good morning, Sehun’ to him as he ran past, in breathy giggly voices, making him stop abruptly and spin around to flash them a debonair smile, before taking off again to the background music of their excited squeals …

Vaulting over the stairs three at a time, he managed to hurtle into his classroom just as the final bell went, opening his mouth already to make some excuse to that unparalleled terror of No. 7 High, Mr. Do Kyungsoo, only to find his momentum carrying him for’rard on skids, till he thumped right into a tall, painfully bony back, getting a mouthful of uniform regulation tweed for his troubles

‘Faugghhuhghh _Chanyeol_ , what the hell, man!!’

‘Eh..’ the tall, liberally boned boy in question glanced back over his shoulder ‘Oh..hey Sehun, what’s up’

‘Whaddya mean, what’s up, why’re you standing right in the door, dumb head…more importantly, what’s going on…’ he peered curiously around Chanyeol, taking in the total disarray of the class, with everyone standing about in clusters here and there – and more shockingly, the total absence of the aforementioned hero-of-a-million-nightmares. ‘Where’s ol’ Dyodoro..’

‘That’s what I was wondering’

‘Pfftt..whatevs’ Slinging his backpack off, Sehun headed through the classroom to his seat beside the window in the far corner, thumping it onto the floor, and sitting down, reaching one foot to jostle Jongin’s chair in greeting. ‘Dude, what’s going on?’

‘Didn’t you guys hear??!’ Baekhyun leaned over, his face red with excitement

‘…What about?’ Chanyeol shoved him off his desk, and sat down himself, pulling out his iPod, and flicking round his playlist, as was his habit

 ‘Dude! There was another murder!!’ Jongin swung his long legs around to straddle his chair, a strip of jerky hanging from his lips

‘Ohh..that… yeah, I heard’ Sehun raised an eyebrow at him ‘But so what??’

‘The kid goes here!!’

‘Whoa!!’ Chanyeol snapped up, his eyes going round and globoid in shock ‘ _He goes here???_ ’ Sehun echoed his cry, reaching to slam his palm against Jongin’s arm. ‘Yeah’ Baekhyun drawled, with all the pure enjoyment of being one of the Ones ‘in the know’.

‘Not classes – they’re saying he goes to cram…’

‘Ooohhh!’

‘Yeah!!’

 

No. 7 High School was, every evening, converted into a cram school, offering extra coaching for anyone appearing for the entrance exams to top Unis across the country, with dedicated programs and a separate staff – the courses were open to anyone who wanted to join, so a good chunk of the students were people who went to other schools, or even people who were taking a break year to get coached… (it had taken Sehun some very crafty wriggling to get out of having to sit through 4 hours every evening of Aldehydes andAlcohols, and RotationalMotion to boot) 

 

‘Did you hear, they found his body right behind the old Summer place??!’ Jongin breathed

‘Whattt!! No, that’s not true, it was near the park!!’

‘Well, yeah, I mean, it was dumped _there_ , but apparently, they found ‘signs of a struggle’ here’

‘They think he was ‘taken’ while on his way out of here..’ Baekhyun cut in, his voice couched in an eerie, horror movie - worthy whisper

‘Whoooaaa..’ Sehun whistled through his teeth

‘That’s why theyr having the whole interview thing – they reckon someone here must’ve been _the last person to see him alive…_ ’

‘Whoa…’

‘Wait, what interview??!’

‘Ohh, yeah, you guys were late!’

‘They’ve been announcing it on the PA sys since like, ages!!’

‘Yeah, see, app the cops are here, in school,  and they’re holding one-on-one interviews with everyone – find out if you know something that could be useful, etc’

‘Turns out it was already scheduled – they were supposed to come give us a ‘talk’ about like..’safety precautions’…’ Minseok joined in abruptly, without looking up from the math homework he was furiously copying off of Jongin

‘But then this thing blew up, so the top chiefs landed here, to interrogate people and shit’

‘Dude….this is so cool!!’

‘Wait…but shouldn’t they be doing that to the cram people?? None of us are even around here that late!!’

Jongin waved a hand, dismissing Sehun’s query ‘Yeah, yeah, they’ve got people going around to all the high schools around, and working down a list of all the crammers, but they wanna do us too…’

‘So Cool!!’ Chanyeol repeated, his eyes gleaming, like Christmas had come early, and brought a tonne of goodies with it.

‘ _So not!!_ ’  Baekhyun huffed, jerking his head towards the back of the class – where the entire female population of the class was gathered, all just a couple of bars short of outright shrieking with excitement, full boxes of makeup spread over the desks, as they pooffed powder over their noses, rolled their socks down, and strategically pulled the waistbands of their skirts higher

‘What’s going on…’ Sehun frowned at the crowd – thinking about it, it was quiet odd – no one, not even Daeun or Nari, had wished him good morning, or come over to try to talk to him – and that was totally the strangest!!

Jongin clicked his tongue in a disgusted note, and turned back to his desk, where he had been screwing balls of paper to make figures for the Paper Football matches he played with Minseok under the tables, during first period (Chem.). ‘It’s that detective dude’

‘What detective dude?’ Chanyeol turned to Baekhyun, who was more’n happy to fill him in – after, of course, ribbing at him (and Sehun) for being total Neanderthals, who didn’t have a clue – ‘Idiots, that guy they imported from China?? Ya know, after the third one, they pulled in this hot shot cop from China to consult with the case or whatev, it’s been all over the telly’

‘Eehhh….’

‘Whoa…like….Police story??? Jackie Chan kinda…kung fu guy???’ Sehun exclaimed, not a little keyed up himself – martial arts movies were his secret weakness, and he’d spend quite a large portion of every holiday lapping up the latest Kung Fu Cop caper….

‘…like, I dunno man..’ Baekhyun drawled, clapping him over the shoulders in mock earnestness. ‘But I think you need to go scheme with Daeun and gang then, seeing as how you’re getting just as wet –‘

‘Shuttup!!’ Blushing, Sehun knocked his hands off, and tossed his head in annoyance ‘It’s just kinda cool, is all..’

‘Yeah, su~ure’ Baekhyun twanged – before raising his head and letting out a yell that had Chanyeol banging him over the head to ‘keep it down, you ass, before the D man gets here!’

‘HEY, DAEUN!!’

‘Yeah?’ Dauen turned over to face them, her pretty face twisted in annoyance at being interrupted, a wand of sparkly lipgloss clutched in one hand ‘Whats up?’

‘Hey, this cop dude, is he like, some, cool martial arts genius, like, ‘if Rambo and Jackie Chan had a son’ type deal, or something, coz if so, our Sehunnie here’d _totally_ love himself a hot little piece of that – ‘

Ignoring Baekhyun’s spluttering as Sehun chucked his backpack at him, conveniently catching him over the mouth with the oversized buckle, Daeun gasped in outrage ‘Of course not!! Zhang Yixing’s like..’

‘The _perfect_ gentleman!!’ Sulli joined in

‘Yeah.. he’s super suave and cool _all_ the time and..’

‘He only wears these amazing designer suits, and his hairstyles are _soo_ hawt!!’

‘And he’s the youngest person _ever_ to have won the Detective shield in all of China!!’

‘Kyaaaahhhhhh!!!’  unable to bear the thought, the group of girls fell about, squealing and jumping about, pressing their hands together

 

‘…ughhh’ Baekhyun scowled with utter disgust at them, before turning to include Chanyeol in his scorn ‘And you thought it was cool!’

‘It’s like he’s some..friggin idol or something…’ Jongin joined in, sounding equally revolted, as he viciously tore at his jerky, and rolled the paper balls

Sehun snorted, and pinged the back of Jongin’s head ‘So is Dyodoro a suspect or what?’

‘Huh?? No way, you psycho, the teachers are all having a meeting with the cops’

‘They’re gonna have the Head, and the respective homeroom teach with us when the cops do the interview thing’

‘Ah!’ Chanyeol commented, in a knowing lilt. ‘coz we’re juvenile, ne’

‘Huh??’

‘Dude..we’re innocent!!’

‘….’

‘We didn’t do anything!!’

‘Besides letting you walk lose, which is soo not our fault, I’ve run _three_ petitions this year, asking for you to be kept locked up, away from decent people, but does anyone sign?? No!!’

‘….

 _You Idiots!!! Juvenile doesn’t mean ‘juvenile offender’, it just means you’re not of age!!_ like, well, ‘juvenile offender’ means, an _offender_ , who is _not of age_!!’

‘…..’

‘Oh’

‘Ehh…wait, really???!’

‘Oh, in that case…’

‘Either way, you can shut up now’ Baekhyun sniffed, as Chanyeol banged the desk, almost rolling with helpless laughter – but the next instance, _both_ of them were silenced, as a chain of loud ‘whispers’ passed down the corridor, and through their class -  ‘DO’s coming!! DO’s coming!!’

Quickly, Baekhyun scooted over to his seat in the front of the class, Chanyeol stuffed his bag under his table, and tried to look as innocent as possible, Minseok slammed his notes shut, and pocketed the pencil he’d been lighting in flames over the page, and the girls flew to their places, so that within seconds, the class was the perfect picture of respectful silence and studious industry

‘Well, aren’t you glad, then’ Sehun whispered, flicking the back of Jongin’s head again, as he valiantly strove not to make a sound, while struggling for breath and choking, having crammed the entire strip of jerky into his mouth, in a panicked bid to hide it. ‘..Wh…why..should..i..’ he gasped, tears streaming down his face, while Sehun shook with silent laughter at the sight ‘Coz, ya know, your beloved Kyungsoo seonsaengnim’s not been arrested or whatev…’ he gibed, before flinging himself back in his chair to avoid Jongin’s attempts at murdering him – luckily, Teacher’s steps sounded just outside the door then, and Sehun managed to avoid having his head torn off [Dyodoro’s inexplicable soft spot for the dark skinned, dancing-genius of the school was a byword throughout these hallowed portals of learning – and pretty much guaranteed to rile Jongin up, if mentioned – with the result that among his friends, esp Sehun, it was their go-to topic whenever conversation seemed to flag][or even otherwise][pretty much always, actually]

 

 

 

Sehun shuffled his feet impatiently, making the fluffy tufted carpet lining the outer office of the Head’s room waft against his ankles. They’d been called up in fives, in the alphabetical order of their attendance registers, with the seniors going first, then Sehun’s year – which meant it was already lunch, the bell having gone seven minutes ago, his stomach was growling, and he was getting more’n more annoyed, as the ‘interrogation’ showed no signs of letting up. Baekhyun, Jongin and Minseok had all finished ages ago, and come back to the class with tales of how ridiculous it was, all they’d done was show them yearbook photos of the four victims, which everyone had already seen a gazillion times (‘like, dude…haven’t these idiots even heard of the internet!’) and asked if they had seen any of them around (‘like we go around keeping track of every random person we meet, tcheh!!’)

‘Aaarrrgghh’ Sehun groaned, loudly enough to catch Mrs. Woo’s eye – she smiled up at him from her desk, where she’d been manning the phones all day, as parents, and at least a couple of the more intelligent of the journos, called for news of the Incident. ‘I’ve already told them its Lunch break, so they’ll get through with you lot quickly, okay? Just bear with it a bit longer, sweetheart’

‘Umm’ Sehun pouted, before flashing her his highest wattage smile, to ensure she knew he didn’t blame her, and silence descended again, the five of them all sitting there like strangers in a train, all in their own worlds, straining for faint sounds from inside the head’s office, or any sign of Woojin (the Soccer team leftback, who was currently being interviewed)…at least, the silence remained, till Park Chanyeol, last amongst the five, who was engrossed in perusing his smart phone (which was forbidden during School hours, and treated like the vilest contraband if found, which goes to show either how brave, or how idiotic he was, to be browsing through it less than a metre outside the Head’s office)   burst out with a loud ‘ _Dude!!!’_

‘Ssshhh!!’

‘Chanyeol!!’

‘ _Chanyeol!’_

‘You ass!!’

This last from Sehun made him glance up and display a toothy grin, holding his fingers up in a ‘V’ – which served to mollify everyone on the bench, (‘cept for Eunji and Wendy, both of whom continued to glare at him in fear of their much anticipated ‘debut’ with the Star Detective being compromised) – and repeat himself in a much lower register.

‘ _dude’_

‘What?’

‘Dude!!! Guess who just followed your page!!’

‘Eehhh!! Who??’

Sehun leaned over, excitement starting to thrum through his veins – he had a more than slightly popular SNS page, and his followers already numbered in the thousands, with even a bunch of (lesser) celebrities following him – and even now, it never failed to stir him up when someone worthwhile ‘liked’ his stuff (which was to say, liked _him_ )  - and from Chanyeol’s expression, it was far from just _anybody_ this time

‘Dude!!! Taeyeon!!’

‘ _WHAATTTT_!!’ Gasping, Sehun reached over, grabbing the phone from him. ‘No way!!’

‘It’s true!!! I can’t believe it, but _somehow,_ it’s true!!’

Sehun quickly blew up his Follower’s list – and sure enough, there it was, the tiny icon selfie, followed by the ‘certified official’ logo and the letters ‘ KIMTAEYEON’

‘Omg, are you serious???!!!’ Jimin on Sehun’s other side leaned in too, hooting over the page, before throwing Sehun a high five

‘Whoa, man, this is soo cool!!’

‘I can’t believe it!’ Chanyeol muttered, snatching back his phone, to make sure of what he’d seen once more, shaking his head ‘She must’ve done it by accident…’

‘Duudeee!! You wish!!! Unfortunately, it seems she just likes her some of this~~’ Ear splitting grin firmly in place, Sehun rolled his shoulders in a catchy rhythm.

‘Man!! You’re like…big time now aren’tcha!!’ Jimin whooped again, as Chanyeol bumped his fist against his forehead ‘You fuckin Ulzzang!!’

‘Ehehe, maybe you wanna be careful how you refer to me, ya know, or you won’t be getting any invites to the SeYeon Love Pad~~’

‘Riiigghhtt! Would ‘Your Highness’ suffice, or would you like me to grovel on the floor while saying it’ Chanyeol deadpanned, setting Jimin off into more hoots – and making the girls finally explode

‘ _Will you idiots cut it out???!!!!’_

_‘Yeah!! What’s he gonna think of us!!!’_

_‘_ What if he thinks it’s us making all this ruckus!!’

‘How can you be so shameless, a kid just _died_ and you lot are just sitting here, _goofing_ around!!’

‘Huuuuhhhhhh??!!!’ Sehun gasped in outrage, while Chanyeol smirked sarcastically at them. ‘Oh puhlease!!! Gimme a break, you lot don’t care a rat’s ass more about that guy than we do, you’re just afraid your _hero_ is gonna think badly of you!’

The argument looked all set to blow up into a full-on fight – Wendy was glowering embers at them, and Eunji looked set to claw Chanyeol’s eyes out – when luckily, the big, cherrywood door swung open, and Woojin bowed his way out

‘Jimin! You’re next!’ Mrs Woo called out, and with a beam of relief, Jimin bounced his way in, letting the door slam on the remaining four, who all settled into an uncomfortable hush, broken only by Chanyeol grumbling a rant at his phone, the only decipherable words of which were ‘Wait till Baekhyun gets a load of this!!’

 

 It seemed like an eternity, and Sehun’s stomach was roiling on itself in hunger, before Jimin bounced out, as sprightly as when he’d gone in. ‘Piece a’ cake!’ he flashed ‘V’s at them, making Sehun snort, and Chanyeol rib at him with ‘Dude!! It’s not like it was an exam, big deal!’

Grinning, Sehun stood up, stretching luxuriously, and turned to smirk at Chanyeol ‘See ya later, dip shit’. With a wink at Mrs Woo, he strode up to the door, gripping the cold metal handle firmly, and pushed it open.

 

 

Apart from the first time, when he’d transferred into the school a year ago, Sehun had been called up to the Head’s office on three painful occasions (to sum up in Prof Junmyeon’s own words - ‘sheer indiscipline’ being the basis of each visit)  and the first thing that struck him when he stepped in, and pulled the door to after himself, was the stark contrast between all those times and now. (Setting aside the fact that, for once, his conscience was crystal clear, of course.)

Cigarette smoke hung in the air, the ashy smell draping itself over the rumpled coats tossed negligently over the sofa arms, the packets of chips littering the glass table in the centre of the room, the messy piles of files, papers haphazardly strewn about, that covered every available surface, mixing with a general smell of unwashed humans, and wet shoes.  Prof Junmyeon, famous for his OCD-like tendencies to keep every bit of the office, every bit of the school, in fact, spick and span, and spotless enough to eat off of, seemed to have given up the battle to maintain any sort of tidiness, and had buried himself in a thick, stuffy old hard cover (antique books being his second passion) at his desk, pointedly removed from the rest of the crowd.

‘Ah, Sehun, come on in.’ Dyodoro, as Sehun’s homeroom teacher, Do Kyungsoo, was (for obvious reasons) popularly known, waved him in, from his seat in the armchair across from the door, his legs crossed, a potato crisp held negligently between thumb and forefinger, and seemingly in his perfect element. To his right, the sofa was stuffed, in short order, by, a. An overweight lady in a man’s suit, rather butch looking, with her hair scraped viciously into a minuscule little bun; b. an officious looking bald man, chain smoking from a pack of Seven Stars, lighting new ones from the dying fires of the last without a break, like his life depended on it, and c. a marvellously moustachioed chap, with the most delightful facial hair, that seemed to forest his entire face in tightly winding spirals, which he kept twirling proudly.

In short, the entire place resembled nothing more than the backstage of a particularly uninspired pantomime show, with stage actors labelled ‘Pleeseman 1, 2 and 3’ all of whom shared a liberally medieval view on hygiene and personal cleanliness.

The second thing Sehun noticed was the sudden tenseness that seemed to grip exhibits A, B and C, as he strode into the room, heading over to the stool Dyodoro had pointed out. For a moment, it was like a strange, frozen silence oozed over them – the next, there was a startling burst of activity, with the lady (‘A’) leaning forward to whisper excitedly to Mr Moustaches, and SmokerMan digging himself out of the sofa to grab a handful of the papers lining the side table, hurrying to wave them at the –

Sehun realized that he’d somehow managed to miss the room’s sixth - and obviously, most important, occupant.

This was clearly the detective guy the girls had been going on about – and taking in the perfectly styled hair, the charcoal grey suit, complete with tie and waistcoat, and the obviously designer watch and shoes that adorned the rather fetching young man, who was lounging against the windowsill, Sehun felt a stab of shame at ever having considered him ‘Police Story’ material.

The detective – Yixing, right, nodded at the Smoker guy without glancing at the papers he was proffering, instead stepping forward, holding out a hand to Sehun, his smile as they shook revealing an incredibly deep dimple cleaving through one cheek.

‘Mr Oh.. Sehun?’

‘Yeah…’

He smiled again, gesturing him to the stool. ‘Forgive me, I’m still just learning Korean…’ he quipped, and as if on cue, Specimens A, B and C all burst into cheery guffaws – setting Sehun even more on edge than ever – the utter creepiness aside, the guy’s Korean was pretty darn perfect, the accent only in faintest traces…

‘You met his elder brother earlier’ Dyodoro, seeming completely oblivious to the strange atmosphere, leaned in, jerking his head at Sehun in his usual curt manner. ‘Lu Han…you remember, from the senior class..’

‘Ah..that’s right…the… handsome boy…’  Detective Yixing didn’t take his eyes off of Sehun – his sleepy eyes, heavily lidded, like he was thoroughly stoned, and about to pass out any second – but hiding a flash of something in them, that Sehun somehow latched onto immediately, strangely convinced it was all an act, and the copper was actually dangerously alert, and brilliantly sharp.

Well….two can play at that game.

Grinning his trademark million dollar ‘pretty boy’ smile at the room in general, he sank onto the stool like it was an overstuffed beanbag, comfortably hooking his ankles to the rung at the bottom, and keeping his body language open and carefree. ‘Yup, my brother’s had people coming upto him in the street, offering idol contracts!’

As expected, but still 110% creepy all the same, the three Stooges burst out laughing again, the lady exaggeratedly slapping her knee.

Det. Yixing smiled indulgently. ‘Well, you’re far from being unblessed yourself! I’m sure you must’ve had a few of those….offers....yourself’

‘A few’ Sehun conceded, smiling as pleasantly as the older man

‘Genuinely handsome boys are usually a rare commodity..though this school seems to have an extraordinary share…still…your particular type of looks are singular even here, wouldn’t you say?’

‘…I suppose…’

‘Come, come now, there's no need for modesty, I’d say you rank right up there, with ‘most popular’, ‘guy I’d most like to date’ and all that?’

Nonplussed by the line the conversation was taking, but determined not to show it, Sehun laughed facetiously. ‘Guilty as charged!’ he chuckled, joining in with the idiot threedom. ‘If, by ‘right up there’ you mean, ‘number one’’ he continued archly, winning himself another round of appreciative laughter.

‘Well, interestingly enough, you seem to have that in common with our victims then, eh’

‘Huh?’ blanking out, Sehun just started at the sudden chill that had pervaded the room again, wiping off every last trace of a jovial smile, or careless grin.

Carefully, the detective reached forward to lay out four glossy, A4 sized photographs on the glass table, in front of Sehun.

‘Yun Minjun’

 

‘Kim Dohyun’

 

‘Kim Sungmin’

 

‘Kwon Junseo’

 

The detective’s soft, yet firm voice swelled through his head, and suddenly, it was like an orange haze swum in front of Sehun’s eyes, his breath turning agonizingly painful in his throat, like glass slivers slicing through to his lungs…beads of clammy sweat slimed onto his palms, leaking unnervingly thick into the webs of his fingers…thicker than sweat had any right to be, warm and glutunous, almost like…. -- for a split second, insects crawled up his spine, their hairy spines scratching through his flesh, he could feel them distinctly, rubbing their feelers together, before sinking them right into his skin –

And, abruptly, with a sick, plummeting feeling in the pit of his stomach, the moment vanished almost in the same second it appeared, and he was left with nothing more than an uneasy, burnt aftertaste, staring open mouthed at the photographs. The images he’d already seen a gazillion times, except for the last, they’d been filling up his timeline for _weeks,_ and everyone had been joking around, making memes out of them, and trying to top each other’s funny comments…

Yet, in that muggy, smoke filled office, with Det Yixing’s seemingly dopey eyes boring into him, Sehun suddenly saw something in the glossies that were lined up side by side – an eerie familiarity, a haunting echo..of...something...

_He…._

_Something …._

And he realised the meaning of the bizarre coiling in his stomach, and the trickle of sweat dripping down his neck.

_always…._

 

‘Me.’ He gasped out, all thought of one-upping the policemen vanishing as he gaped in shock. ‘They….they all..!!!’

‘Mm-hmm.’ Detective Yixing nodded gravely, leaning back on the balls of his feet, and crossing his arms across his chest.

‘It’s pretty textbook, really’ Exhibit A quipped, the first time Sehun had heard her speak, and to his surprise, her voice was supremely articulate and well breed, like one of those people you see on TV with long titles after their names…

‘This type of criminal is someone we call a ‘preferential offender’ Det. Yixing continued. ‘You _did_ hear than the victims had been assaulted before they were killed, yes?’

‘Huh?? Mm. Yeah….’ Sehun swallowed, unable to take his eyes off the pictures of the boys, all frozen, grinning eternally at the camera, clearly loving the whole procedure, even if it was for something as mundane as the yearbook…

The second one… Dohyun? Had blonde hair, and the latest one, the new pic he was seeing for the first time, that guy had highlights almost exactly like Sehun’s, it was like…

How could he not have….

 

‘Ah! Yeah!’ Gasping, Sehun realised the room had fallen silent, everyone keenly staring at him with inscrutable expressions, even ol’ Dyodoro…Looking at his Homeroom teach, though, Sehun felt a sudden jolt of courage (as inexplicable as it may seem – after all, they were both always at logger heads – yet…it _was_ ol’ Dyodoro after all…) ‘they were like…beaten up..?’ the words were difficult to say now, somehow..even though they’d all been playing around online, wondering how long each one might’ve lasted…

‘Hmm…that _was_ what the news is reporting, isn’t it..’ Det Yixing sighed, and came to perch at the edge of the table, his knees almost touching Sehun’s as he looked earnestly up at him. ‘They were all beaten pretty bad – though, luckily for us, the faces were left almost intact – or identifying them would’ve taken _much_ longer…well, anyway, apart from that, the boys were also.. _sexually_ assaulted before they were killed.’

‘Huh??’ Sehun gawked at him, bemused. ‘A _girl_ did it???!’

‘Huh??!!’ Startled, the detective pulled back – before shuffling his feet uncomfortably, waving his hands as he negated Sehun. ‘No, no, the criminal was definitely male, we found traces of semen – it drew a blank at all the available DNA banks..but..definitely more than enough to help us when we do get our hands on a suspect..’

‘ _Eeeh_!! _’_ It had taken Sehun a moment of the detective rambling on, to understand what he’d meant by saying the boys had been sexually assaulted by a man.


	2. Chapter Two

‘ _Uugghh_!!!’ Sehun crushed the pack of crisps viciously in his fist, before punching it into his shopping basket, to join the mound of junk food already filling it, all in various stages of similar distress. Snapping about violently enough to knock half a rack of cookies over, he reached for the  crepes in the top row, with their pretty paper bags all blazoned with the legend ‘creamy chocolate filling’ - grabbing one just as, from across the narrow little aisle, a gnarled hand stretched towards the same packet.

 ‘What??!! ’ He growled, seizing firmly onto the pack, glaring daggers at the old woman who was just opening her mouth to protest. He must’ve looked like real trouble – Wordlessly, she quickly turned away, pulling her near-empty cart behind her, as she hastened off, up the aisle.

 

_What the hell am I doing…_

 

Sehun sighed, looking down at the packet in his hands, soft and pink, with the weight of the rolls deliciously resting against his fingers.

 

 _What_ am I doing.

 

Quickly, he ran up, between the tottering rows of ramyun, and stacks of toilet paper, to where the lady was prodding at a carton of freeze dried seaweed. ‘Excuse me..’ She jumped, startled at his voice – and immediately on catching sight of him, ducked behind the row of shelving, mumbling what sounded suspiciously like warding off prayers. ‘No, no, I’m sorry, here, just..here..’ Sehun dropped the crepes into her cart, bowing deeply multiple times, before turning around

Sighing, he made his way back and bent over to pick up the boxes of Country Ma’am’s Double Chocolate Chip Cookies he’d dropped, stacking them carefully onto the shelf again – before reaching for a new bag of crepes, letting it fall gently from his sweaty palms, letting it fall onto the scrunched up crisps in his basket.

 

He felt icky all over, like something awful had crawled into his clothes and died, a rotten, clammy, slimy feeling washing over him…

 

He’d no idea how he’d gotten out of the Head’s office – only that everyone outside waiting was totally curious about why it had taken him so long…He hadn’t known what to say for one awfully long moment, his heart pounding in his head to the rhythm of shame and fear… Luckily, Chanyeol’d just assumed he’d been getting his ear chewed off for making some snarky comment as usual, and latching onto the excuse with relief, he’d laughed and gone along with it. Even luckier, they’d announced over lunch that everyone who was done with the interviewing could go home [which was probably more than in part thanks to Jongin-and-Baekhyun’s re enactment of Battle Royale, in the safety of the Dyodoro-less classroom, while Sehun and the others were being interviewed] [Baekhyun subsequently had had to be driven to the hospital by the School Nurse, with a foot-long piece of wood stuck through his arm] [he wasn’t in any immediate danger] [as evidenced by his continuing to stick his head out to yell at Sehun all the way down the drive, cursing him in the bluest language he’d ever heard] [It should be mentioned here that Baekhyun was a die-hard Taeyeon fan]

 

 

_Man, I totally_ **did** _luck out…_

_I_  can’t  _let anyone find out!!_!

 

They’d explained it all to him – Det Yixing had, how a ‘Preferential Offender’ targeted a specific  _type_  – age, gender, eyes and hair and body build, all had to be… _perfect -_ ’to satisfy his sexual motivation’, was how he’d put it, and Sehun had felt physically  _ill_  again, only this time it held longer, his stomach flipping over on itself, before settling somewhere in the region of his toes, dribbles of sweat setting off to pool down his painfully crawling skin and his whole body alternating between flashes of parched, dry heat and dank frigidness. The  _freak_ who did this - he was after the particular type of person he found…  _attractive_ , ( _Yeecchhh_!!!), the type of boy who looked exactly like Sehun, which was why all the victims had looked eerily like fun house-mirror versions of himself….it sounded almost too incredible to be true, he didn’t even believe it entirely himself - it was all too much like something out of a…a horror movie or something! He’d had to struggle to focus on the words the detective was speaking, desperately putting all his concentration on what they were telling him, so that he could get a hold of his nauseously floating mind, and  _never_ ever let it show - he didn't know why, he had a right to be upset at something like  _this_ , surely - but he just  _couldn’t_ let them see how it was affecting him!!

They told him how, when  _He_  couldn’t hold it in any longer, he’d scour the place, searching…looking…And once he….once the  _creep_  found a boy he wanted, he’d watch them till he got a chance, and then he’d….  _grab_  them. They’d told Sehun how he’d surprise them out of the blue, which probably meant he wasn’t confident enough to try and talk them into going along with him, confident enough to trick them – or confident that he was strong enough to overpower them if need be…

Opting instead, to come up behind them and hit them over the head with something, before they – well, before they knew what hit ‘em

(‘That’s the…’signs of a struggle’ they found near the Summer place, right???’ Sehun had blurted out, making everyone gasp at him – SmokerMan almost falling over himself as he snapped at Sehun in a high pitched nasal voice ‘How did you know about that!!’, his beady eyes turning gimlet like, as he bent over him like a praying mantis. The remaining 66.66% of the Stooges had added their share of  horrible glares to the mix, till he’d been thoroughly certain he was a goner, even as he defiantly waved his hand, drawling ‘ _Everyone’s_ talking about it, it’s all over school’… Fortunately, just when he was convinced they were about to drag him off and have him drawn and quartered, Det Yixing had cut in, laughing as he said ‘nothing else could be expected’, and how schools were supposed to ‘cultivate a spirit of enquiry after all’ - which of course, set the other three nodding and smiling, like they’d been of the same view all along)

They’d questioned him for  _ages_ , was there anyone who showed an interest in him, approached him, or someone he kept seeing around..someone who maybe made him a little uncomfortable…or who didn’t  _quite_ fit in – maybe an older man, who kept hanging out around the places ‘you children go to’..

 _‘UUGHHH!!!’_ Just remembering had the bile rising in Sehun’s throat again. _Some…fag!!! Some sick nonce, some…eewww it was all so disgusting, he couldn’t even – watching_ him _???_

 

**_Damn fucking faggots!!!_ **

 

 _This was so_ gross _!!!!_

 

 

They’d kept peppering him with questions, asking the same thing three or four times, at different points in the interrogation, or wording the same question different ways – even though he hadn’t done anything, even though he was practically the victim here, it had all been so off putting, and..well..

kinda…

…..frightening actually.

 

SmokerMan had kept right on smoking, puffing long streams of smoke through his pinched little nostrils,  and it had all hung in the air, wafting round and round Sehun, it was awful, first of all, he’d always  _hated_ the smell of tobacco…and by the end of it, his head had been pounding fit to burst!!! Not to mention, his stomach kept twisting about inside, and…

Those stupid grinning photos had kept staring at him, like –

 _Ha!! After all, it was their fault for getting caught by some totally revolting wackadoodle, and then having..all.._ that _..done to them, Eeewww_ , Sehun had just wanted to rip those photos into little shreds and throw them over that stupid Yixing nut, look at them smiling, when they’d been.. _raped_ by some  _man_ , it was  _disgusting_ ,  _they_ were disgusting..and that  _idiot_ , asking him if he ‘used the internet’ –  _no, I don’t you dumbass, coz this is the 18 th century, isn’t it – wait, that was probably the last time you had a bath, eh, freak, _Sehun had laughed, commenting about how it was only the geeks who spent all their time online – giving the lady his ponzi email that he only ever used to fill out school forms….He’d been so fed up – by the time they started making him take down all their numbers, and instructions on how to contact them if needed, even these directives interspersed with questions about his hobbies, where did he hang out, what did his parents do, etc etc, he’d just wanted, more than anything, to get out, to just get out of there, he couldn’t take it anymore – he’d answered in least controversial format, as quickly as he could, saying only things he knew they wouldn’t quiz him further on, even seriously answering those stupid irrelevant things that had  _no_ connection to the case, that they kept firing at him [‘what’s your favourite colour?’ ‘Black and white’ ‘do you like sweets?’ ‘Yeah, I love sweet things, esp chocolate’*cue big grins* ‘How do you get along with your brother?’ ‘Fine, fine, we kinda fight a lot, but ya know..we love each other’*shrug, smile tenderly* ‘your trainers are pretty cool’ ‘thanks, birthday gift from my mom’*stick feet out to show them off better*]

Finally they had finished, Mr Moustaches handing him a form to sign in triplicate (and then making Dyodoro check them over, and add his seal to the record), Det Yixing had shaken hands with him, smiling that dimple at him again – and all the three coppers had grinned broadly at him too, assuring him they were available always, at any time of the day or night, and to call them, or the emergency helpline,  _whenever_  he needed, if he felt uneasy about  _anything_  at all, to remember  _all_  the precautions they’d given him…

Flooded with relief, Sehun had had to struggle not to run out of there, bowing deeply at everyone before sedately walking to the door – but they hadn’t even let him leave then, even at the end they just  _had_  to yank his chain, Det Yixing calling out in his cultured, well modulated voice, that Sehun would give anything never to have to hear again – ‘One moment, Mr. Oh!’ With a sinking feeling, Sehun had paused, turning around with one hand still on the door knob.

 ‘That…how did you get that?’

It had taken him a beat to understand what the detective was asking, nodding pointedly at him, while scratching his cheek with one long, perfectly manicured finger…then he’d realised this was just another tactic to keep him off balance, another stupid irrelevant query, as his own fingers, having reflexively followed Yixing’s movements, felt the slight indentation under their tips ‘Oh!! You mean..this?’

 ‘Yes, that’s right, that scar there, how did you get it?’

Honestly, Sehun had no idea, he’d always had that little mark, it was barely visible and he’d never paid it much heed. He’d long forgotten how he he’d gotten it, simply putting it down to some unremembered childhood moment  – but now, when he was so close to escaping out of that awful room – ‘Oh, this ol’ thing?’ He’d laughed casually. ‘I fell off my tricycle when I was small…lucky it’s pretty tiny, eh?’ [it was probably the truth, for all he knew] Everyone had laughed along with him, and with a final bow, he’d finally,  _finally_ , managed to get out.

 

Ugghh.

 

The more he thought about it, the more pissed off he was getting… those stupid cops,  they must be patting themselves on the back, thinking they’d gotten him good, thinking they’d run rings around the ‘idiot  _teen’_ , stupid fat cats,  _ugghh_!! Sehun shoved a giant bottle of Coke into the basket, before straightening up. Even his  _face_ felt icky, why’d that turd have to –

 

 

‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!’

 

 

Sehun’d reached two fingers to his cheek, making to prod at the little scar again, like he’d been doing all afternoon, ever since – only to graze against a warm, outstretched hand, moving towards the same destination.

 

 

‘ _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH – ‘_

 

 

The next instant, the hand moved to slam against his mouth, cutting him off mid scream.

 

 

Sheer panic filled Sehun, like balloons of light popping before his eyes, he struggled, kicking out widely behind him, both hands reaching to claw against the implacable arm holding him in place _Nooo no no this can’t be happening let me go get OFF GET OFFF_  Help someone  _No not me, not to me_

 

His breathing was wildly off control, as he bucked his whole body, struggling to get free  _he was so strong_  Sehun couldn’t budge  _Help_  someone, someone had to –

 

 

 

 

‘ – _Hun!!_

 

 

 

 

_Sehun!!_

 

 

 

Sehun! _!’_

 

Huh??

 

Startled, Sehun went limp, abruptly sagging backwards as a voice cut into his terror, over the blood red pounding in his ears – a voice he….knew perfectly well –

‘ _You ASS!!’_  Breaking free of the heretofore relentless grip, as the muscular arms loosely released him, Sehun spun around, hitting at him, at the tall, leather-clad boy who’d snuck up behind, now doubled over with laughter. ‘You scared the  _shit_ out of me, you dickhead, I’m going to  _kill_ you!!!!’ Hell-bent on retribution, and realising his fists weren’t making the slightest dent to the  _idiot’s_ glee, he reached for the bottle of Coke he’d just set down

‘Okay, okay, c’mon now’ Pacifically motioning his hands, the guy effortlessly slid the bottle out of his grasp, then turned to bow reassuringly at the rest of the little store – the old lady, who seemed to be violently crossing herself in the corner, the couple flirting near the fruit aisle, and the scattered few housewives, shopping for their ‘home cooked’ dinners, all of whom were gaping over in stunned silence. So innocently infectious was his smile, as it sparkled across the shop, though, that everyone beamed in reply, nodding indulgently as they accepted his apology [even that wrinkled grandma!] - and seeming to completely disregard the punk hairstyle with shaved sides, the  _five_ ear piercings with oversized rings dangling from them, n not least of all, the whole spiky, strappy leather ensemble.

Grinning, he turned back to Sehun, leaning forward, his eyes twinkling like he had some incredible secret to impart – before sniggering ‘You should have  _seen_ your face!!’

‘ _Shuttup_!!’ Blushing, Sehun shoved him brusquely out of the way, hefting the basket as he made his way to the counter – but he couldn’t help a little smile from breaking out, like it always did whenever his best friend showed up.

 

 

 

 

‘Is there a party going on I don’t know about?’ Tao lightly slid the basket out of his grasp, [his habit, whenever he saw Sehun carrying something heavy][Sehun always found it funny how he took the few months between them so seriously, determined to ‘take care’ of him, coz he was ‘the elder’] [ _Funny_ …but somehow rather touching, esp now, at a time like this.. making him feel somehow… _cared for_..]

‘Naaa…’

‘Eehhhh.’ Tao just quirked an eyebrow at him, knowing full well that when he went binge eating like this, there was usually something wrong - but he didn’t pry, only placing the basket on the counter, and turning to greet the owner in his usual friendly manner.

 

 

 

 

‘You skipped school today!’ Sehun scolded, as the boys headed out of the shop, the little bell above the door tinkling as they stepped out into the late afternoon sun.

‘Yeeaaaaahhh…I’d some stuff to do’ Tao shrugged, and Sehun snorted –  _stuff to do, more like, he was goofing around with that idiot, Kevin._

‘You totally missed it, it was  _crazy_  – there were like, cops all over the place!!’

‘Ah, coz of that murder, ne~’

‘You  _knew_?’

‘Yeah’ Tao chuckled, swinging the shopping bags about expansively ‘I get around’

Sehun sniggered ‘Yeah, I’ll bet you do, you little bitch’

‘HA!’ Tao gasped exaggeratedly, pulling a shocked face ‘ _Language_ , Mr Oh, or I’ll have to wash out your mouth with soap!!’

For a second there was pin drop silence as the boys eyed each other – the next, they fell about, laughing raucously at Tao’s perfect imitation of Jongdae Seonsaengnim, their all purpose science teacher.

‘So?’ Tao raised his eyebrow at Sehun, once they had managed to get their breaths back. ‘Did you talk to any o’ the cops?’

‘Yeah!!’ Sehun nodded emphatically… _bitterly_.. ‘They had us give one-on-one interviews with them, showed us the pics of the victims, like, ‘have you seen this person around’ etc etc’

‘Eeehhh…but what’s the use now, we’ve all been seeing those pics everywhere!’

‘ _I know right!!_  They had like, these three  _idiotic_ pigs in, and, oh! That Chinese detective, dya know him?’

‘Hmm? What Chinese detective?’

‘Ha!! You gormless fool…he’s been on the news  _all_  the time, the Chinese Detective they got to help with the case…You are  _so_ retarded.’

‘….Eehh…’ Tao smirked, eyeing Sehun knowingly ‘On the news?  _You_  watched the news??’

‘….well, Baek told me – ohh shuttup, that’s not important, anyway, I was  _sayin’_  , they had us all go in one by one, and these 3 cops, plus this Detective dude were in Prof Junmyeon’s office – oh, and Dyodoro too, and they asked us all these questions..’

Sehun stopped, letting his voice trail off.

He’d wanted to……

Of course he couldn’t tell anyone, there was  _no_ way he was  _ever_ going to let anyone know, just the thought of it was enough to make him feel  _sick,_ just imagine, some  _guy_ , a MAN, was…

But everything was so messed up…

In his head, it was….

And those Policemen!!!!!!! He  _hated_ them!!!!!!

 

Those boys, all of them, and….some  _man_  touching them….him…

 

 ** _He_** **needed _to tell someone_  **– before he burst, this was too much, he just had to…

 

a  _man_  was…and he was watching..looking…

boys//like… _him_ …boys who looked like  _him_ …

 

_doing those things!!!!!!_

 

He  _had_ to tell someone…

but he couldn’t…

But if it was Tao?

 

If it was Tao…..

 

But Sehun just walked on silently, matching his steps to Tao’s long stride, as he exclaimed over how cool it sounded, getting a chance to see the ‘inside workings of an investigation’, and how he ‘ _shouldn’t_ have cut out today!!’

 

Coz it was all Tao’s fault.

 

He should’ve been there!! If he’d just been there..then….then it wouldn’t have been so bad!!

Even if they didn’t say a word to each other, if he could’ve just….  _known_  Tao was back in class… 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t like they  _avoided_  each other in school, these two boys, like they purposely ignored the other…It was just that…well, they ran in different circles. Huang Zitao, with his metal and piercings and leather, hung out with a crowd of similarly attired minor league bad-asses, who mostly spent all their time mass worshipping a ball – hanging out in the playing fields or the indoor rinks all day, and heading to the public B-Ball courts every evening. Of course, Tao took some time out of this hectic schedule to go beat people up – he was the star of the school’s Wushu club, etc. At the helm of this group of weirdly flashy jocks, was Tao’s idol, and the one person Sehun detested more than anyone on earth – Kevin Li. 19 yrs old and older than anyone else in school, during the rare moments he actually showed up, he was in Lu Han’s class -  and while he’d never heard his brother come out n say anything outright bad about him, he could tell Hyung didn’t like him either!! And Sehun? Well, he had his own crowd, Jongin and Chanyeol and Baekhyun and Minseok, all of them impeccably dressed at any given moment in almost dandy clothes, stylish, super popular and supremely trendy; they were at the core of every episode of naughtiness that rocked the school, but always stayed well within their bounds, and this, combined with their uniformly good grades in every subject, their dependability for any little responsibility, and their brilliance at anything involving music or dance [every school function since they’d entered had been an unqualified success] made them the darlings even of the school staff [‘cept for ol’ Dyodoro, who seemed summarily unimpressed] [except, of course, where Jongin was involved] [Then he was an unequivocally enthusiastic supporter].

So somehow, though far from intentionally, they’d ended up living in totally different worlds during school hours. And while they always smiled and nodded at the other when passing them in the corridor [when they weren’t grimacing, and pulling the weirdest faces just to try and get a rise]…or texted each other under cover of their desks whenever anything of import transpired.. or even how Sehun always had the tall, muscular Wushu champ fight his way through the lunch crowds at the school store for him, whenever he forgot to pack some – they rarely, if  _ever_ , had any overt contact during the day – and if he’d thought about it, [which he never did, having long accepted this situation as normal, as something that was thoroughly customary, and had come about utterly naturally] he would have realised how weird it was, that if questioned, not a single one of his circle could’ve named  _Tao_  as his best friend [not in a million years] [Or even named Tao as his  _friend_ ]

 

‘It’s weird, but you  _always_ end up missing out on those exact days when something interesting goes down, ne~’ Sehun jostled Tao with his shoulder, keeping his voice light and free-free~~ [as his brother was wont to say]

‘Omg, that’s true!! I’m so unlucky!! Remember the time I had chicken pox?’

‘Haaa!! OMG  _yes_!!! That was the best, the exact day you get locked down, Dyodoro comes in with  _red_ hair – and the whole month, he goes around like some neo-romantic, Titian-ic figure, coz everytime he washed it, it got oranger and oranger? And the  _day_ you come back – bang! Back to black Haaahharahar!!Oh oh, and the time Lau stuffed the frog from Bio Lab into Eunji’s shirt??’

‘Omg, yeah! That one too! I was there that day, in the morning, I just _…_ took the day off after lunch, so to speak, and  _then_ everything fun happens….’ Tao sniffed theatrically. ‘Aaah! I even missed the time Chanyeol decided to… _wash…_  the school bus, ne~~’

Sehun burst into a wild hoot of laughter. ‘That was  _epic,_ man! I can’t believe you missed that!! Someone… Baekhyun? Or was it…ah, I forgot, but someone was insisting he couldn’t drive, and Chanyeol was all like, ‘of course I can!’ and the next thing you know, he’s pinballing the bus right into the pool!! They had to get like a, friggin tow truck to pull it out, ehehe’

‘I  _knooow!_ ’ Tao moaned. ‘I saw all the bazillions of pics and vids everyone posted…Damn, even people from other schools were goin on about it, and being in the same class, I missed it!!’

‘Oh, and you missed the time someone smeared cow blood near the library, right? Ohh, dude, you shud’ve been there, everyone was like,  _fre-a-aking out!!_  It was the day right after the..second? third? Ermm..second, second murder, see, and the whole school pretty much lost it!! Ol’ Junmoney banned everyone from going anywhere near Block Two, they made us share classrooms with those kids till they got all these people in to like check it out and stuff…

And when they announced it was  _cow_ and not  _human,_ you wouldn’t believe the explosions!! Man, it was almost like they’d have been more satisfied if it  _were_ that kid’s ya know!!’

Tao stopped laughing long enough to wheeze out – ‘I know what you mean!! It’s like that time we set off fireworks during the midterms, hiding in that ole shed, and they were all like – ‘Are you boys hurt? No? Well – HOW DARE YOU WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, etc etc, man, like they were upset we  _didn’t_ blow ourselves up – Ah, that time I  _was_ there, right…’

‘Duude!! That was like..in  _seventh_  grade, omg, the last time you were in on something, was when we were 12!! Haa!!!’ Sehun crowed, as Tao pouted, muttering ‘whaetver’s.

‘Ah…it’s daebak, you’re soo unlucky!! I can’t believe you missed the blood thing, tho, it was just  _killer_ …’ Slowly Sehun’s excited voice fell away into a thoughtful drawl ‘I wonder who did it? We never  _did_ find out, ne…

Tao cleared his throat scratchily, scraping his feet against the concrete uneasily for a couple of seconds - then reached over to cuff Sehun lightly over the head ’Yeah, yeah, ok, whatever, I’m unlucky, fine!! Now gimme that juice’

‘This?’ Sehun looked down at the bag he was carrying [Tao’d let him carry a single, small, shopping bag, while he commandeered the rest] ‘it’s  _tea_ , you dumbass’

‘Whatev. Give it here’

Tao unscrewed the cap and chugged a giant swallow – then another one, making Sehun yelp – ‘don’t  _finish_ it, donkeybrain!!’

Grinning, Tao held the bottle out of reach of Sehun’s outstretched hands, [their difference in height had been an ongoing joke with Tao for a number of years][Sehun didn’t see what was so funny about it at all] [In a completely unrelated matter, Sehun had taken to drinking three bottles of milk every night before bed], and smirking down at him as he took another big swallow – before Sehun managed to grab it away, scolding him loudly as he tucked it carefully back into the bag

‘Yakwa.’

‘Huh??’ He looked up as Tao, who was  _totally_ not listening to him, the goof, suddenly stated

‘You know what would go really well with this whole lot?’ He shook the bags he was carrying in demonstration

‘…….Yakwa?’

‘Right in one, Oh Hun’ Tao grinned, tapping his nose

‘Hmmph’ Sehun snorted ‘So you can eat the whole lot, and then wipe your fingers all over the closest thing to hand? I think not!! That was my one-of-a-kind Frieknock shirt, you  _idiot,_  and you got it all sticky, and – ‘

‘Oh, here we go , not this again, seriously, that was like, _days_ ago!! Plus I apologised!! Just.... wouldya let it go!? Let it gooo~~~’ he sang exaggeratedly, pursing his lips, as he ruffled Sehun’s hair

‘Oh, shuddup, that’s not even the tune’ Sehun knocked his hand away, ’it’s Leett it goow~~Let it goow~’

‘ Ha!!! You honestly think that sounds better than  _me_??’

‘Ohhh sorry, I forgot,  _nooothing_  can touch his melodiousness..ness…Huang Zitao’

 

‘Damn straight.’

 

Both the boys laughed as Tao crossed his arms in front of his chest [setting the shopping bags swingin wildly] and struck a pose

‘Idiot.’ Sehun continued walking, shaking his head

‘Baichi.’

‘Doesn’t that mean ‘idiot’ itself?’

‘Uh-huh’

‘Ha!! Tao is such a big  _idiot_ ; he can’t even think up comebacks on his own, he can only copy  _me_!! What. A. Loooser – ‘

 

Somehow, goofing around with Tao, being silly and stupid – at some point, it had stopped being forced, and started becoming real, so much so that Sehun had actually forgotten all about the…..the Thing, the…..all of it – but right then, as they walked, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in a polished, shiny window…framed by rolls of bread and slices of coconut cake, he saw his own grinning face - his flawless skin and highlighted hair, his confident walk, the way he wore his clothes, even though they were just his uniform…

A queasy heat pounded through him at the sight, almost like he was looking at a stranger  _this was what he saw…watching//the boys…they all…he was.._

 

And it crashed back down, ruthlessly, slamming into him so he could hardly breathe, and for a moment everything swayed funny, he couldn’t – It was like his head had tilted on a weird axis, and he fell –

 

Only he didn’t. Sehun snapped around to see Tao still going on about something – he hadn’t noticed – nothing had happened, he hadn’t fallen, thank goodness, it had apparently passed quickly, he hadn’t even –

‘Sehun?’ Tao looked back, frowning. ‘What’s up?’

‘Ah….er..mm-mm, nothing..’ He managed to croak, and started walking again. ‘Gimme that tea’

 

‘…Errm…You have it?!’

 

‘…….Huh?’

‘ _Hun-ah_ , seriously, what’s with you, you’re so lost today, even more than your usual retardedness…  _You_  have the tea, you put it in that bag yourself, didn’t you!’ Tao laughed, jerking his head at the bag

‘Ah..’ Sehun looked down, at the bag he was still holding, clenched so tight, his knuckles were starting to turn a stark white. ‘…Ah..you’re right, ne..’ He pulled the bottle out and took a long swallow, spilling a long stream down his front, so badly was his hand trembling

‘Whoa!!’ He jumped back, scarcely avoiding getting it on his clothes, staring, almost like he couldn’t recognize it, at the resulting dark brown puddle on the pavement…the liquid seemed to flicker in the sun, before pooling into the cracks, running in fine shimmering lines to the gutter

Beside him, Tao paused for a sec – then started giggling, choking out ‘Hun-ah….how clumsy can you get!’　

But something deep in his eyes stayed sombre – and he came over to Sehun, draping an arm around his shoulders in a seemingly casual, thoughtless motion, rubbing his arm and squeezing it.

 

 

And with just that, an immense flood of relief exploded through Sehun – Even though he hadn’t told him anything, even though he hadn’t asked – Tao knew him so well, after all, he  _knew_ something was wrong – and he’d understood too, that Sehun didn’t wanna talk about it, so he’d kept his peace n acted like nothing was amiss, just offering that... silent sympathy - which was more than enough to chase Sehun’s demons away. It was a really...stupid, melodramatic..like..chick flicky feeling, Sehun realised in some extremely embarrassed corner of his mind - but overall, he was too relieved to care. Like Tao’s strong shoulders and powerful arms would wipe away the half formed wraiths and uneasy fears that haunted him...or something.He leant against him for a moment, drawing into his warmth as he lightly rested his head ‘gainst his shoulder

Tilting his head to look up at him, he grinned happily. ‘Ehehe, I guess you’re right, I’ll forget where my own head is, and drop it somewhere next!’

Tao looked down too – his nose almost grazing Sehun’s with the change in posture, as he opened his mouth to reply – but then he stopped abruptly. Sehun was so close he could see the laughter in Tao's lips die out, and feel the rise and fall of his throat as he swallowed… Watch as his pupils dilated…

Tao sure had the most interesting eyes, they were very dark chocolate brown, the centres full and purest black – and when the sun hit it like it did now, it was almost like it left a little bit of itself behind, as they took on a faint golden shine - 

 

‘WHOAAA!!  _Tao_!! – ‘

 

Tao had suddenly pulled away so fast Sehun stumbled, almost falling over onto the road

 

‘What the  _hell_ are you doing!!??’

‘Nothing.’

 

Huh??

!!!

Wearing the most sullen expression, as he shifted the bags to the hand that had been holding Sehun just seconds ago, Tao stared resolutely in the opposite direction, his voice gruff and sounding seriously pissed.

 

‘Tao….?’

 

‘It’s nothing!’ He snapped, sounding even angrier – before he drew a long breath, holding it for a moment before sighing deeply, slowly turning to Sehun ‘Sorry…it’s nothing’ his voice was back to normal….but something was …off, it wasn’t quite right, his expression…like he couldn’t meet his eyes or something..

_What the hell!!??_

 

_That was so sudden, nothing had even happened!!_

 

 _What the fuck did_ I  _do!!_

 

‘Hun-ah…sorry..i got some stuff to do….shall I call you a cab?’ he waved the bags at him

 

‘Taaoooo!!!’ Sehun whined, tugging at the side of his shirt ‘you don’t have anything to do,  _we_  had plans for today remember?!! You said we'd hang out after school, n i could pick what to do! You  _always_ bail when its my turn!!! You're soo not getting away with it again, you jellyfish, even if it's early, c'mon, we’re gonna have a movie marathon!’

 

‘Ummm...’

 

‘TAooooo!!! That’s what all this is for, see?’ He grinned invitingly, pointing at the bags Tao was holding.

 

‘Movie marathon..?’ Tao repeated, the beginnings of a smile starting to dawn on his face

‘Yeah!! Like, Five whole movies back-to-back!!’

‘Eehhhh…on a school night? Oh-perfect-student-Hun isn’t thinking of cutting tomorrow, is he?’ He teased, his drawling tones and fully blossomed grin making Sehun beam in relief

‘I don’t have to – coz we’ve got the day off tomorrow’

‘Ehh?? Really?? Whyy!??’

‘Oh..i dunno…. Something to do with someone being murdered or something..’ He said, imitating Tao’s earlier drawl, smirking

[It was so easy, here in the golden sunlight, with Tao so close by…he didn’t even feel the slightest twinge of anything…why, he could joke about fifty murdered look-alikes if he wanted to!!]

‘Eeehhh..is that so!’

‘Uh-huh. Guess the little bitch doesn’t  _get around_ all that far after all’ He quipped, making Tao laugh out loud, a big hearty laugh, before playfully rounding on him with a ‘who you calling little, you shrimp’

‘But seriously, Hun-ah…. I can’t, I really  _do_ have something..to…take care of…’ He finally said, once Sehun had recovered from his near-suffocation by having giggled so hard

‘…eehhh!!! No way!!’

 

‘Yeah…Sorry...I’m sorry, truly..’ He turned gleaming big eyes at Sehun, who just  _had_ to start giggling again – Tao looked so damn woebegone, like he was gonna start crying any minute – which, knowing him, he prol was

‘So come afterwards, silly!’ He said, hitting him ‘Do whatever you have to, and then come over!’

‘…It..will be late when I’m done…like..probably around 9..’

‘No biggie!! We'll watch all the movies, and you can just crash at my place’

 

‘Ermm…’

‘C’mon!!!’ Sehun pulled a pout – letting  _his_  eyes go big and gleaming – and as always, it worked 100% effectively, Tao caving in less than half a sec. ‘Ok, ok, fine!!’

 

‘Yehet!’ Sehun pumped his fist, grinning triumphantly

 

‘ _YehetI’_

 

‘That’s my word, don’t copy me!!’

 

‘ _That’s my word,don’t copy me!!_ ’

 

‘Stop it!!’

 

‘ _Stop it!!_ ’

 

‘What’re you, five!??’

 

‘ _What’re you, five!??_ ’

 

‘TAO!!!!!!!!!’

 

‘Alright, alright!’ he laughed, rubbing his arm where Sehun had been whacking him with his bag. ‘Now, I’ll get you a cab, k’

‘Don’t be silly!! I can walk!!’

‘With three bags?? You sure??’

‘Yeah! Give it here – ‘ Sehun slung the bags onto his own arm, balancing the small one in the crook. ‘There, see? Not a problem’

‘Well…if you’re sure…’

‘ _Yeah!_ Stop nagging, you’re not my Mom..besides, it’s just a coupla blocks’

‘Well...Ok then..see ya ‘ Tao grudgingly accepted, shoving his empty hands into his pockets.

‘Yup. Byee~’

‘Nine, k’ Tao turned off the pavement to cross the road, heading East

 

 

‘Tao!’ Sehun suddenly called out, to his retreating back ‘The tree, ok!!’

 

Tao waved in acknowledgment without turning back, and Sehun started walking again, a small grin still in place as he made his way home – as was the case whenever he spent even the slightest amount of time with his best friend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

[A/N] [aka - some things i'd just like to say]

a. Okay, so Sehun comes off kinda...(totally*) homophobic. (Or does he ~~⊂(^・^)⊃ lol)  I'm sorry, that's necesssary to his character, and the story and...I'd just like to put in a disclaimer that this in  _no_ way reflects the author's personal beliefs etc... i  _fully_ support LGBT rights and personally, i think its sad that i need to even put something like this down

b. To anyone who is also reading The Last Snow - ehehe, i know the whole 'pretend strangers but actually not' trope is one i've been using in my other story too - i'd just like to say that the only reason i'm doing that is coz i like the idea a lot - but to explore it from  _different_ angles, so please be assured this is  _not_ gonna turn out to be just like that one...i repeat,  _this is not going to have anything in common w that_  other than the same characters inv, and a few ideas like this... [i'm just worried you guys are gonna get bored (๑-﹏-๑) ] Sorry, ne!! m(_ _)m

c. Guys, please please please post your comments about this - if you like it, or don't, either way, i'd be really grateful - it's a whole new genre for me, taohun crime/psychological, so i'd be reeeallly grateful for any thoughts you might have (ó﹏ò｡)

d. Yawka is a Korean sweet, fried and then soaked in honey [i found the recipe here - http://kimchimari.com/2011/03/07/yak-wa-korean-honey-pastry/ in case anyone wantsa try 'em out(灬ºωº灬)♡] [they sound so delicious, i know i will(^▽^)o!] 


	3. Chapter Three.

@ilovepuppies – 7:35pm – no way cy, do it urself!!! :! :@ 

kyugurl91 logged in.

@kyugurl91  - 7:35 pm – OMFG, GUYS YOU WON’T BELIEVE THIS!!!!!!!

therealmandoo logged in. purrfectdarling logged in. 

@purrfectdarling - 7:35 pm – What happened???

@therealmandoo – 7:35 pm – whtzup???

taeyeonismine logged in

@taeyeonismine – 7:35 pm – kekeke u guyz r soo dumb!!

@ilovepuppies – 7:36 pm – nice handle, baek ;) :D >D ;) ;)                                                                   

@therealmandoo – 7:36 pm – baek?? Wht hppnd to ‘oreodreams’??

@2ripe4u – 7:36 pm – aww liwwle baby gots thoroughly stiffed~

@taeyeonismine – 7:36 pm – SHUTURFACE dckhead!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@2ripe4u – 7:36 pm – jst last month he ws droolin all ovr her at a fanmeet…now look, alone and unwanted

@ilovepuppies – 7:37 pm – kekekekekekekekkeke!!!

@purrfectdarling – 7:37 pm - will u gys ALL shuttup!!! Whts up Su?

@kyugurl91 – 7:37 pm – u knw tht nu detective dude?

@purrfectdarling – 7:37 pm – OfC!!!! Yixing-ge is soooooooooo cool!!!!!!!!!!

@2ripe4u – 7:37 pm - >_> yeeaaaaa we heeaarrddd :/

@therealmandoo – 7:38 pm riiiiiigghhhtt

@ilovepuppies – 7:38 pm -yeaa…doped af…so cool… <:-| :L :L :L

@purrfectdarling – 7:38 pm - OMG HE IS SO NOT!!!!!!!! He’s the BEST, he’s brilliant, a genius, awesome n totally HAWT!!!

@taeyeonismine – 7:39 pm – sm1 sent him no4’s clothes!!!!!! :0 :0 :0 [n no one cares, Wen]

wu-rldomination logged in.

@ilovepuppies – 7:39 pm – omg wuuttt??? :O :O ;O :0

@wu-rldomination – 7:39 pm – WHATTT!!!

@purrfectdarling – 7:39 pm - that’s coz yr all so STUPID!! Yixing-ge is AMAZING!!!

@kyugurl91 – 7:39 pm – app Wolf hd taken 4’s jacket whn he killdim – he just sent it to te Det

@wu-rldomination – 7:40 pm – hw du know???!?!?

@kyugurl91 – 7:40 pm – I ws there!!!! @police office, sm1 brot it in, it hd been left outside wit te Det’s name on it, n its just ‘Yixing’ Wen, not ‘Yixing-ge’

@purrfectdarling 7.41 pm – GE = Oppa!!!! Hehe, u don’t even know that!!!

@2ripe4u – 7:41 pm – whoa!! Did u c it???

@kyugurl91 – 7:41 pm – oh..i c… sorry

@kyugurl91 – 7:42 pm – yeah!! He opnd the box in te outer office itself, te jacket ws wrapped in clear plastic

@ilovepuppies – 7:42 pm - far out!!! :O :O :O

@2ripe4u – 7:42 pm – waaayyyy coolll!!!!!!!!!!!!

rockerchick96 logged in

@taeyeonismine – 7:43 pm – the q is, y wr u @ te PO…

@rockerchick96 – 7:43 pm – wz dr lk…blood on it?????

@kyugurl91 – 7:43 pm – thts none of yr business!!!

@taeyeonismine – 7:43 pm – YEAH!!! It ws gory!!

@kyugurl91 – 7:44 pm – I meant baek, nt u Nari, Yess!! It hd dried up – bt like, the whole jacket ws coverd with cruddy black blood!!!

@purrfectdarling – 7:44 pm – woowwww

@rockerchick96 – 7:44 pm – wow!!!

@purrfectdarling – 7:44 pm – shasdkdjdsk I’m so jelly of u Su!!!!!!!!!!

@kyugurl91 – 7:44 pm – hehehe~~ it ws so hot, u wudn’t believe….bt hw te fuck did u knw abt it baek??!?!?

@ilovepuppies – 7:44 pm – kekeke baekhyun Skillz!!  :D :D :P :P

@2ripe4u – 7:44 pm – baekSkillz!!!!

@therealmandoo – 7:44 pm – dts de baekSkillz!!!

@wu-rldomination – 7:44 pm - ….whoa Su, tht means He ws right thr!!!

@wu-rldomination – 7:44 pm – as in, he mustv JUST droppd it off!!

@taeyeonismine – 7:45 pm – kekeke, bow down to my superiority losers~~

@kyugurl91 – 7:45 pm – iknoooooooowwwwwwww!!!!! It def wsnt thr whn I went in…@lk, 6:45?? I JUST missd Wolf!!!!!!!

@ilovepuppies – 7:45 pm – omg yea!!!!!!!!u wr so close to Wolf!! :OOOOOO

@therealmandoo – 7:45 pm – wow!!!

@2ripe4u – 7:45 pm – omffgggggg thts soo unlucky!!!!!!!!!! U wr so close!!!!!!!!!!!!

@kyugurl91 – 7:45 pm - I knowwww!! :( :( L L L L :’(

@kyugurl91 – 7:45 pm - bt I gt a gud luk @ te jacket – maannn it ws fucked up!!!

@ilovepuppies – 7:46 pm – PICS!!!!!!

@kyugurl91 – 7:46 pm – hw cud I hv tkn pics in te fuckin police off Jongin!??

@therealmandoo – 7:46 pm – omg u got pics!???

@therealmandoo – 7:46 pm – kekeke thts wht I thot, it wud b too much, gttin our hands on smtin lk tht 2 times in a row!!

@ilovepuppies – 7:47 pm – ryt ryt

@2ripe4u – 7:47 pm – it ws all ripped??

@kyugurl91 – 7:47 pm - idk, it ws folded, but it didn’t luk ripped up – just cvrd wit blood

@rockerchick96 – 7:47 pm – ofc not, Wolf dsnt use a knife or smt he beats em up

@ilovepuppies – 7:48 pm – legit badass, man!!! B)

@2ripe4u – 7:48 pm - ^

@purrfectdarling – 7:48 pm – no4 was cute tho!!

@rockerchick96 – 7:48 pm – ohh!! I hvnt seen 4 yt~~:

@purrfectdarling – 7:49 pm – just messgd u the pic nari

@rockerchick96 – 7:49 pm – tnx, gottit omgggg ahdhajsksjdh hez HOT!!

@purrfectdarling – 7:49 pm – ikkrrr???!!! T^T

@therealmandoo – 7:49 pm – pffft he luks weak af tho

@ilovepuppies – 7:50 pm – yea..luk at his spindly arms, I bet those gt snapped first!! ^O^

@2ripe4u – 7:50 pm – haaa!! I’ll tk u on ths tym kkamjong, luk at tht chest – his ribs wudv been cracked lk twigs furst!!

@therealmandoo – 7:51 pm – Totals!!! bwwuurrshhh!! << whn a rib broke n stabbed into his heart*

@ilovepuppies – 7:51 pm – kekekekekekekkeke!!!!

@ilovepuppies – 7:51 pm – bt I’m still bettin on t arms~~

@2ripe4u – 7:51 pm – ur on!!! Brung it!!

@taeyeonismine – 7:52 pm – muhahahhaha!!! No, no his lung, I bet his lung was first, ribs broke n punchd thru n he drwnd in his own blood~~ lol thts totally wht Wolf did, I’m sure, he cudn’t evn hv made much noise then

@2ripe4u – 7:52 pm - *hee-gugugug-ee-huhhghugh-eelp*dead*

@rockerchick96 – 7:52 pm – kekekekekekekeke!!!!!!!!!

@purrfectdarling – 7:53 pm – ha!!! U guys r sooo wrong, just coz he wasn’t some muscle bound steroid junkie doesn’t mean he ws WEAK!!!

@kyugurl91 – 7:53 pm – yeah!!! He luks fit!!!!!!!!

@taeyeonismine –7:53 pm -… anything n everythin gets u lot wet, dsnt it….

@rockerchick96 – 7:54 pm - shuttup freak

@purrfectdarling – 7:54 pm - Gawd, ur so retarded baek!!!!!!!

@kyugurl91 – 7:54 pm - ha! Everythin cept YOU, baek!!

@ilovepuppies – 7:54 pm - kekekeke

@2ripe4u –7:54 pm - kekekeke yr askin fr it baek

@taeyeonismine – 7:55 pm – yea yea whatev, letz strt the new round already!!!

@kyugurl91 – 7:55 pm - :D YESS!!!!!

@2ripe4u – 7:55 pm – whootwhoooottttt!!!!!

@ilovepuppies – 7:56 pm – ALRIIGHTTTT!!! :D :D :D :D huz turn is it ths tym??

@kyugurl91 – 7:56 pm – Sehun!!

@rockerchick96 – 7:56 pm – Sehun

@taeyeonismine – 7:56 pm – the ultimate loser’s

@2ripe4u – 7:56 pm –Sehun

@2ripe4u – 7:56 pm – kekekekekekekeee jealous much baek

@ilovepuppies – 7:56 pm – c’mon Sehun, lets start!!!!!!

@wu-rldomination – 7:59 pm – guys….listen…i….really don’t think we should play this anymore….its gotten to this…level, right, its just…….c’mon ya know….

@2ripe4u – 8:00 pm - ????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@ilovepuppies – 8:00 pm – WHHUUUUTTTTT?????!!!!!!WHYYYYYYY????

@rockerchick96 – 8:00 pm – Sehun….why wud u say tht!!!???

@purrfectdarling – 8:01 pm - wth are you saying??!!!!!!!!!!!

@wu-rldomination – 8:02 pm - i just think we shouldn’t..like..mess with this anymore..

@taeyeonismine – 8:02 pm – what the fuuuckk, don’t be such a pussy, man!!

@2ripe4u – 8:02 pm - Quit dicking around -_-

@kyugurl91 – 8:02 pm – yr turnin in2 a wuss Sehun

@ wu-rldomination – 8:02pm – FO U RETARDS it’s already gone  _way_ too far, k!!!!!! all this wasn’t supped to happen!!!!!!!

@taeyeonismine –  8:02 pm – istg, get yr head out yr ass Hunnie, and start it already

@rockerchick96 – 8:03 pm – Sehun!! PLZ, I’ve been waitin all week for this!!!!!

@ilovepuppies – 8:03 pm - get a grip dude, don’t go chicken now

@kyugurl91 – 8:03 pm - fuckn get with it!!!

@2ripe4u – 8:03 pm – WTF u fuckin pansy, do it already

@therealmandoo - 8:03 pm - keke, hez joking, u guys.......right?? Se-se, ur kiddin, rite?

@taeyeonismine – 8:03 pm – oh Sehun, the whiny lil fairy~~ shud oppa kiss u n mk u feel all better now~~

@wu-rldomination – 8:03 pm – o fr fucks sake!!!  FINE!!!  FINE okaaayyyyyy alright, I gettit!!! Geez!!!

@wu-rldomination – 8:03 pm – SHUT YR HOLE U CUNT!!!!!!!!      

@rockerchick96 – 8:03 pm – Just ignore him Sehun!! Yr doing it???!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D J J J

@wu-rldomination – 8:04 pm – ya ya ya….*sigh* whatev, I’ll start, ok?

@2ripe4u – 8:03 pm – YAAAAYYSSSSS

@ilovepuppies – 8:04 pm – yessss!!!!!!11111 :D :D :D :D :D :D

@kyugurl91 – 8:04 pm – YESSS!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Sehun sprawled over the bed, his face buried in his pillows.  _I’m gonna_ kill  _him._

It was already half past Nine, where the  _hell_ was that idiot!!???

If he didn’t show up….. _just you wait and see, you stupid dick, I’m sooo gonna –_

 

‘Chiiin che ching’

 

Huh?

 

He raised his head as his computer set off a notification tone, glancing over at his table, where the screen had automatically flashed on, displaying a small square pop-up in one corner indicating he had a new message off of the chat site

Sighing, he flopped his head into his pillow again

 _Seriously, where_ was  _that donkey_

His fingers grazed against the packs of food he’d dumped over the bed in readiness… crisps, corn puffs, everything in Tao’s fav flavours…

He’d even gotten some yakwa on his way back….

 

_Aaah~ah_

 

He looked up again, turning this time to the window, where a branch of the apple tree scraped negligently against the glass….Apart from wispy insubstantial shadows that dappled across its bark in a moving spectrum of black mists and gloomy flickers, there wasn’t anything there. Every now and then a passing car would ignite it in golden frivolity – and then it was gone, and the shadows crept back and there was nothing there still…

 

 

 

Back when they were small – back when they were tiny, Tao and Sehun had been inseparable. He couldn’t even remember how they’d met, or become friends or anything – all he knew was that as far back as he could remember, they’d always been together. Tao had  _always_  been around, always been part of his memories. Forever in and out of each other’s houses, they’d even gone to the same school every single time - right from kindergarten, through elementary, middle school, everywhere. Except for maybe a few weeks each summer when their parents took them away on vacation, or important occasions when Tao had had to go to China to attend family functions and stuff, they’d rarely been far out of each other’s reach…

Of course that didn’t mean they did  _everything_ together or anything – in fact, back then, as now, they’d had many non-mutual friends, with whom they spent loadsa time – but they’d always been in the same class, always kept within eye sight of each other..and of course, once school let out, they always ended up practically living on top of each other…

 

 

But around the time they were in middle school – somewhere around the time they were both pre teens, almost adolescents, that all changed.

 

It had been his mom.

 

First, it'd just been weirdly small things – when they went shopping together, n Sehun asked if they could get a particular snack that Tao liked, she’d get angry…when he asked her to make a particular dish that Tao really loved, coz he was coming over for dinner, she’d refuse, like it was something…. _hideous_ , he was asking of her, even though till then, she’d always gone out of her way to stock their cupboards with things Tao liked, so much so that Hyung would joke that Tao was her ‘favorite son’….

Whenever Sehun said something about Tao, or mentioned something ‘Tao said’ or ‘Tao did’, she’d get annoyed or angry or upset….

When Sehun came home with stuff he’d borrowed off of Tao, or little items Tao had given him [Tao had always spent the major portion of his pocket money buying anything Sehun casually happened to mention he liked] [And Sehun would always laugh at how serious he was about being the ‘older one’, and insist they share whatever it was] [By the time they were in middle school, it had become almost a game with them, Sehun professing his love for things only coz he knew  _Tao_  would actually like them…] she’d demand that he ‘get rid’ of them at once!

 

Inexplicable as it was, it had only gotten worse, gradually escalating…

 

In the fall of that year, when the leaves had all turned a beautiful golden maple, and the air carried with it an exciting snip, whispering of lands far across the horizon, where the grass was icy green, and the alpine daisies blossomed;  when the girls all started wearing fluffy sweaters, and  street side stalls sprang up perfuming the town with the smell of hot hotteok and sweet Jjinbbang ; when he’d dragged Tao home with him after one of their track n field tryouts, grimy and muddy but exhilarated and proud, and come downstairs asking for an extra towel for him, she’d finally exploded - throwing a huge fit, she’d screamed at him, and….. he still shuddered when he remembered it, the way she’d started yelling…

He hadn’t understood much of what she said, but the gist of it was her summarily banning them from bathing [or showering, as the case was that day] together.

Sehun had  _never_  ever understood it all, really, even  _now_..I mean, they were both guys, right??!! What was she getting so worked up about??!!!! If one of them had been a  _girl_ , yeah, he’d get it, once they started growing up, obviously she’d have had problems with things like that, no matter how good friends they were, or how far back they went – but in their case, none of that was valid!!!!!

 

Things were okay for a bit after that, and Sehun had started to think everything was going to be okay, everything was going to go back to normal, putting the episode down to a momentary nutty impulse - when it happened all over again, she’d gotten crazy mad one day when Sehun casually mentioned Tao was sleeping over, yelling and shouting…only one phrase had struck in his mind, about how ‘ _unnatural_ ’ it was,  _whatever that meant_ …. and the next thing you know, she had banned them having sleepovers together, saying they were  _never_ allowed to 'share a bed', which Sehun  _had_ no explanation for!!

 

Well, that wasn’t exactly true…he  _did_ have one. While not a rabid bible pounder, his mom was deeply and strongly religious – and he didn’t really think it was a coincidence that her aversion to Tao corresponded with the time he started getting his ears pierced, and dressing like some weirdo off of a Misfits cover

 

Even so, he couldn’t help being upset – she  _knew_ him, had for years – even people who’s barely met him didn’t take more than 5 mins of being in the same room with Tao to understand that all that was just superficial, and just a fraction of an inch below all that leather was the biggest heart you could ever find!! But no matter how much he begged and pleaded, she’d just grown more and more closed to Tao – even the very fact that he was so desperate to be with him seemed to…like….[weird as it may sound, it was the feeling that hit Sehun every time]  _confirm_ something in her mind, and she’d gotten madder and madder every time…and worse of all, it wasn’t  _just_ that she was angry…sometimes, Sehun would catch a shade of what looked almost like…disgust?? In her eyes which was pure agony for the little boy who loved his Mom more than anyone else in the whole entire world

 

She’d forbidden Tao coming over at all– and even the rare occasions when they did cross paths, she was so frosty and chilly, refusing to acknowledge him, or look at him even, that Sehun had felt torn to the bone, like his heart was being ripped into shreds….You see, Tao was…well, he was really innocent..and childlike..he couldn’t take that sort of…hatred, [coz that’s what it was, it was hatred, concentrated loathing] and Sehun could so clearly see how cut up he was inside every time that happened – even though he tried to keep a smile on his face for his benefit, and tried so hard not to let it show… 

She started demanding that Sehun cut him out too, stop spending time with him, stop seeing him…started grounding Sehun everytime she found out he’d been hanging out with Tao….even locking him up in his room once for a whole day…

 

Things had abruptly come to a head one evening, back when he was 13 – it had been a really good day, he couldn’t remember what had happened exactly – maybe Mom had had a raise, or Hyung had gotten an award or something, but it was a really happy day, she’d taken them out to lunch at a fancy place, and then given them both a nice big note each, and waved them off carelessly as they headed to the local game centre – she’d seemed so casually chilled out, he hadn’t even had a moment’s hesitation in calling Tao the moment they’d turned the corner….

Mom had even let them order pizza for dinner, and she was usually strict about them eating ‘junk food’ like that for their ‘proper meals’, and hyung and he had had the greatest time  _ever,_ ordering all the weirdest combinations they could think of from the local pizzeria, and them chowing down, with Mom who laughingly joined in… Hyung had been telling her how he’d landed the biggest high score of all time at the mini basketball rink when he’d done it – unthinkingly, without realising what he was saying, without paying attention, Sehun’d started talking about how Tao had spent half an hour over the bike racing game, trying and failing to beat his record, laughing as he described his frustration – she’d flown up so fast her chair had crashed halfway across the room as she reached over and smacked Sehun. Over the face, so hard his ears rang. 

He hadn’t even been able to believe what was happening, his hand reflexively going to his cheek, which had flashed numb for a moment …it was…it had been the first time she’d hit Sehun, the first time she’d been that angry with him, over anything,  _ever;_ her face twisted in ugly anger, her whole body shaking with fury as she yelled and screamed, seizing her plate and hurling it against the wall where it smashed to smithereens, the shards, mixed with cheese and ketchup splattering all over the room…– his cheek felt like a thousand jellyfish coils were streaming over his face, stinging viciously, cruelly – but he hadn’t even been able to register it, so blown was he by the sight of his mom bursting into tears, sobbing like her heart was breaking, as Hyung, who’d also jumped up, wrapped his hands around her, pulling her away from the table

_Away from him._

 

He’d never seen her cry like that before

 

She’d collapsed into Lu Han’s arms, while still yelling at Sehun through her tears, pointing a terribly accusing finger at him, even as, for one unreal moment, the only thing that penetrated Sehun’s shocked fog was how impossibly tiny and fragile she seemed as his brother desperately tried to sooth her, comforting her in a quiet voice as he tried to get her out of the room…

‘THIS HAS TO STOP!!! THIS HAS TO STOP!!’

That was all she kept screaming, repeating the same words over and over…

 

 

But as much as he loved her, adoring her from the bottom of his heart as he did, as much as he respected her and wanted to be a good son, wanted to obey her….this was just one thing he couldn’t do. Just the thought of not having Tao around was too scary to even think of – just imagining it was enough to have black spots hurtle in front of his eyes, and his lungs seize painfully… It lit a fear in him that was far far above his fear of hurting even her…

 

and he couldn’t…..

 

 

 

Much later, he didn’t know when, but it must have been hours and hours later, Hyung came into his room, sitting by his bedside, where he lay curled up in a ball in the dark, pressing his forehead to the cool paint on the wall, not crying, not thinking, not feeling, just empty, like there was a hole through him, right through and through

‘She’s asleep’ Hyung had said..’Sehun-ah, she didn’t mean to hurt you…she’s just…..afraid’

‘Of what??!!’ He’d yelled, the tremor in his voice frightening even him ‘Of what, just  _what_  is so wrong with Tao, why…. _whyy_  must she…’ he’d choked then, his breath catching in his throat, and he hadn’t been able to continue, scared he’d blubber, scared he couldn’t keep up his tough guy act…

But Hyung had understood, reaching to lay a soft hand over his head, patting him, the same way he used to do when they were children, and he’d cry when he fell over in the sandbox and got hurt….

And Sehun hadn’t been able to hold back anymore, throwing himself into his big brother’s arms, and sobbing into his shoulder, gulping and chocking out words intermittently – ‘she… _hit_..me, Hyung..Mom.. _hates_ me…I can’t…Tao’s…Tao’s…’

‘It’s ok, it’s gonna be okay’ Lu Han had whispered, his lips gently shushing against his ear as he tenderly rubbed his back, holding him tight

 

 

At last, at long last, when he couldn’t cry anymore, when he didn’t have any tears left, Hyung had brushed his hair off his face, making him lie down and pulling the covers over him, tucking him in as an occasional dry sob still racked through him….. Then he knelt down beside his bed, and told Sehun what to do.

 

‘I Can’t – ‘ Sehun had started, but Hyung had hushed him – telling him he knew very well how important Tao was to him, how precious their friendship was – which was why he hadn’t told Sehun  _not to see him again_ , just  _not to mention it, not to talk about Tao in front of Mom ever again, and to pretend they no longer hung out; not to bring him up in any way._

He’d made him promise – and as he linked his pinky with him, just the way they used to back when they swore they’d never tell about the puppy they found in the woods, or where the box of Hershey’s had vanished to, Sehun suddenly saw the tremble in his brother’s hands, and for the first time ever, it struck him that his big brother was only a year older to him.

Looking back, it might’ve seemed stupid he hadn’t realised it before – of course he knew their ages, but those had just been numbers before.. Lu Han had always seemed so tall to him, so big, so strong… for all the time growing up [and if he was being more honest than he ever would be, even  _now_ , deep down in a secret corner of his heart] his big brother had always been his Hero – so he’d never  _actually_ understood it – but now he did, he saw the way his eyes were rimmed with red, and the shiver running through him, and he suddenly understood his big brother was barely older than himself, he was as freaked out over everything, he was as upset, and as scared as he was…and he was as unequipped to deal with all of this – whatever ‘this’ was, this big invisible monster living in their house with them

 

So he’d promised in his steadiest voice, throwing his heart behind it, and he’d never broken that promise.

 

And over time, everything had gone back to normal – Mom had gone back to being his loving, lovable, sweet Mom…. There were no more fights, no more throw downs…. Hyung was happy too…and they were the perfect sunny family they’d always been

 

Everything had gone back to normal – except Tao had vanished from their home. He was never referred to, spoken of, or mentioned in any way….by some tacit understanding, they all veered away from topics that would touch on him, pretending he just didn’t exist. For the longest time, Mom had even avoided asking him the most innocuous questions about school, or how his day had been, what he’d done. But gradually, over time, it seemed like she’d actually forgotten all about him, about all of it..[Sometimes Sehun would wonder what in the world happened to all their photographs, from kindergarten and stuff – Tao was in almost every one of them!] [But none of them ever surfaced again, and he assumed she must’ve gotten rid of them]

And Sehun’s life went back to normal to – but a slightly new normal. He still hung out with Tao, spent all his time with him, meeting up every single day even if just for a bit – but now he had to do it on the down low, stealing about and making excuses for his whereabouts, wandering through the shopping district on weekends, or catching a movie in the afternoons, by claiming he was ‘on a date’ or ‘hanging out with Jongin or Chanyeol’ [One of Sehun’s biggest peeves was how Mom never had any problem with his other friends, even  _encouraging_  them to have sleepovers and parties and stuff] [Even as it annoyed him, he made full use of it, using them as an excuse to stay out with Tao whenever he wanted]  or sneaking illicit bottles of beer to the old water tank, and drinking them side by side way up there, where it felt like they could almost reach out and touch the stars…. 

But most often, they just used the Apple Tree. Sehun’s bedroom was luckily right at the back of the old, rambling detached 2-storey they’d renovated back when his family had moved to Isan, while Mom and Hyung had bedrooms right in the front overlooking the garden and the main road. It was isolated and cut off from the rest of the house, and separated from them by a long, stone tiled corridor with a creaky door at the far end – meaning the noise made by anyone coming through was more than sufficient to function as an early warning system.[ In fact, he could even watch his TV at full volume in the middle of the night, and no one would be the wiser!!] So it was inevitable that most of the time, Tao just ended up sneaking his way up the Apple Tree, and directly into Sehun’s bedroom, and they could safely play around as much as they wanted, goof off to their hearts content – why, Sehun even had Tao ‘teach’ him ‘martial arts’ moves every other day – and even all the resulting yells and cries and crashes and bangs [despite them always shushing the other, muffling their calls, and laying out cushions and pillows all over the floor] had managed to avoid detection!! Even the long unused servants’ staircases right at the back were still standing – so they had the run of the whole house late at night, once mom and hyung were asleep!

Tao had also accepted the new arrangements without question – no, more like, with a frank relief that had a momentary pang rip through Sehun – He’d worried, hadn’t he…despite putting on a brave face till then, he’d been frightened too… that Sehun would listen to his mom, that he would throw him away too, turn against him and gash open their friendship to hack it into tiny little shavings of flesh that had passed its sell-by date….

 

Sehun sighed.

_Aah-ah… I really do put Taotao through a lot, don’t I…_

 

_I hope that Yakwa is still warm, or I’ll go zap it for a bit_

 

Sehun rolled ungainly off the bed yanking his loose PJs up one handedly, turning to the side table where he’d deposited the snapware box with the yakwa, when –

 

‘GGUUGHAA-‘

 

Sehun slapped both his hands over his mouth, cutting off his own scream

‘That’s the  _second_ time today, you cabbage!!!!!!!’ he finally managed to snarl, once his breathing had returned to near-normal, at the Idiot slouching over the windowsill

‘Keke, it’s not my fault you’re so dopey’ Tao giggled as he swung his legs off and straightened up, stretching luxuriously before making his way to the table, to grab the carry bag of DVDs Sehun had gotten. ‘Besides, I didn’t wanna disturb you – you looked like you were deep in thought – and that’s such a rare occurrence, one….. wouldn’t…..want to…..’

Tao’s voice trailed off as he looked at the handful of discs he’d pulled out, turning them over and back, his mouth dropping as he read the titles and the blurbs on the covers

‘Se….hun….’ He turned wide eyes at Sehun, swallowing with difficulty a couple of times, before croaking out – ‘ _wha….._ these are…..!??!!!!!’ 

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

i'm pretty sure the chat room handles didn't faze anyone (^ワ^＝) but just for confirmation, here's the break down - 

ilovepuppies - a certain someone who claaims his pet poodles are his 'sons' [T^T jongin-ah, whyy you so cute!!]

2ripe4u - a play on Chanyeol's name, which means fruit [fruitful fruit/berry tb precise]

therealmandoo - Xiuminnie asserting his actuality

purrfectdarling - after the character from Peter Pan, Wendy Darling

taeyeonismine / oreodreams - ............oh kkaebsong

wu-rldomination - inspired by Sehun's weibo handle [also, ya know, the 'se' in his name]

 

i hope you liked reading this❣❣❣ pls look forward to the next update~~~ <m(_ _)m> 

 

 


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